


Higher Ground

by karasluthqr



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dark Kara Danvers, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Heavy Angst, High School AU, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, Major Slow Burn, Minor Kara Danvers/Mon-El, Multi, Physical Abuse, They all need therapy, Trigger Warnings, also some fluff don't worry, although he's mike matthews in this fic, kind of, that's why they're here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:35:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28391013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karasluthqr/pseuds/karasluthqr
Summary: Lena Luthor is brought to Mount Horizon, a wilderness school for troubled teens, by her brother Lex after their father threatens physical abuse. She is admitted to the Cliffhangers group where she meets a particular blonde who's hard exterior is more than meets the eye.Or Supergirl Higher Ground AU
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	Higher Ground

**Author's Note:**

> Most of you probably have no idea what the show Higher Ground is but it's a show from 2000 that basically follows a group of about 6 kids at a wilderness school for troubled teens and I've been wanting to write an Supergirl AU with it for the longest time. Each character in this story is a mashup of their Supergirl character and a character from the show that I assigned them.
> 
> First chapter is super short and won't be too heavy because I'm still trying to figure out all the story logistics but I wanted to post an introduction so here you go! Hope you guys like it or are at least intrigued by it!
> 
> TW: very light mentions of physical abuse, alcoholism, and suicide

“This is going to be good for you, Lena.” 

Lex’s words fall on deaf ears as Lena stares blankly out the window of his black Mercedes. They left the city of Denver yesterday morning, driving about 11 hours before stopping to stay the night at the fanciest hotel Lex could find in Boise, Idaho. Then this morning they took off at an ungodly hour, leaving behind the city life she’s always known to drive the rest of the way to some hick wilderness school in Arlington, Washington. She memorized the directions before they left; it’s easier to focus on where she is headed instead of why she is heading there.

“Yeah. Whatever,” she mumbles, still mesmerized by the trees whipping past as they drive along I-5 N. She knows they’re getting close, the surrounding area flushed with trees and leaves of green while the cars and buildings fade slowly into the distance. Soon they’ll be in secluded forest area, driving the winding roads until they arrive at their destination. They call the place Mount Horizon, which Lena still rolls her eyes at. It’s a little too.. hopeful for her taste.

“I don’t understand why you’re acting like this, Lena. It’s not like Mom and Dad were parents of the year.”

She scoffs. 

“No, they were the opposite.”

Lex glances at his baby sister, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. She’s turned away from him, her elbow digging into the door panel and the palm of her hand props her head up as she looks out the window. Clearly she doesn’t want to talk, but he also doesn’t really care.

“Exactly. So why are you being all doom and gloom?”

“Just because Lillian and Lionel were shitty caretakers doesn’t mean I wanted to go live in the wilderness, Lex.” She shoots back, effectively shutting him up.

Lex stays silent for the rest of the drive and Lena does too, quietly mourning the life she’s leaving behind. It’s not that she’s going to miss the torment the Luthors’ put her through, but she was just a few weeks away from going back to boarding school for her senior year and seeing all of her friends. Well, there’s really only one person she was looking forward to seeing in particular but that’s neither here nor there anymore. Lena sighs, an ache blossoming in her chest as her thoughts drift towards Andrea. They were dating, kind of. More so still just trying to figure things out but now she doesn’t even get a chance to find out what could have been because Lex has decided to uproot her life and send her to some wilderness camp where they teach you coping skills and how to face your “inner demons” or whatever they called it on the dumb pamphlet. But she doesn’t need it. She’s doing just fine on her own.

__

Even Lex’s new 2005 Mercedes couldn’t make the drive up the gravel road smooth, the sound of the tires grinding against the pieces of rock causing her to wince in discomfort. The car comes to an abrupt stop, and Lena jolts forward slightly. To her left is, what she assumes to be the main building. It’s wooden, not painted so it’s still brown, with a few steps that lead up to the front double doors and triangle shaped windows.

Lena pushes open the car door and gets out before she has to hear her brother open his pretentious mouth. The first thing she takes notice of is all the people, presumably fellow teenage screw-ups, scattered around the grounds. At picnic tables, just walking, in front of other cabins, everywhere. Second thing she notices are the only two grown people around approaching her. One is a blonde haired woman, who looks to be somewhere in her mid-forties, and the other is a Black man with kind eyes. 

“Mr. Luthor,” the man extends his arm to shake Lex’s hand, snapping Lena out of her daze. She didn’t notice Lex had even gotten out of the car. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Lex grins and gives an awkward nod in Lena’s direction. “And this is my sister..”

“Lena,” the older man fills in with a warm smile. “We’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

Lena nods curtly, her eyes falling away to the gravel beneath her feet, suddenly feeling awkward in her own skin. It’s an unusual feeling for the 18 year old. Normally she can hold her own - something the Luthors’ have been drilling into her since the day they brought her home - but there’s something about the way the man looks at her that makes her feel see through.

The man, who’s name she learns is J’onn and the woman, Eliza, - she thinks is the name that was mentioned but truth be told she wasn’t really listening - exchange niceties with her brother and go over the basics of her stay here at Horizon for a few more minutes before she says her goodbyes to Lex. They take the rest of her belongings out of the car, which is only a large black suitcase and a violet napsack. He tells her he’ll keep in touch and reaches his arms out to give her a hug, but she sidesteps him and follows J’onn inside the main building. What can she say? She’s petty as hell. 

J’onn leads her into a secluded room. It has no windows. Only a table in the center, two chairs, and a single overhead light. It feels like an interrogation room, not that she should know what an interrogation room feels like at only 18 years old but she does.

J’onn gestures for her to sit down with his hand and she does, rolling her suitcase to a stop next to the chair. He sets her bag on the table and Lena glares at him, arms crossed over her chest as a defense mechanism. J’onn must note the behavior to mean that she’s uncomfortable because he says “If you would be more comfortable with a woman, I can have Eliza come and talk to you instead.”

He isn’t _wrong_ exactly, she is uncomfortable but it isn’t because of him. In fact, Lena actually kind of likes him. She isn’t sure why. Maybe it’s the way his eyes shine with sincerity or the way his smile feels oddly welcoming, but she feels safe around him.

“No, that’s fine,” Lena attempts a smile but her tense lips struggle to form the expression so she isn’t sure if it came off as a smile or as a grimace. J’onn chuckles so she assumes it was more of a grimace.

“I’m sure you are aware of the reasons you’re here,” he says, his voice lilting upwards at the end so she knows that it’s a question. 

“Yep,” she replies, popping the “P”, as she stares straight ahead, not wanting to have to look at the older man, who has taken a seat on top of the table.

“Can you tell me why?” Lena can’t help but roll her eyes at the less than subtle attempt to get her to open up about her _trauma_.

“I was adopted by a rich family that didn’t really want me at all after my mother killed herself via drowning. My adoptive mother is emotionally abusive and my adoptive father is an alcoholic with quite the temper.”

“Yes, that is your background but why else are you _here_ , Lena?”

Lena huffs, her patience wearing thin. “One night Lionel got a little too wasted for his usual taste and threatened physical abuse so my brother decided it would be better if I came here. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

J’onn nods silently, a contemplative look on his face. “You refer to Lionel and Lillian as your ‘adoptive parents’ but refer to Lex as your ‘brother’ even though, technically, he is also your adoptive sibling. Is there a reason for that?”

“Not everything has some sort of deep, twisted psychological meaning, sir,” Lena deadpans.

“Of course,” J’onn pauses. “But please, call me J’onn.”

Lena stares at him, unsure whether or not she wanted to give him further pushback. That’s usually her go to mechanism when she’s forced to participate in something she deems to be less than savory but his eyes were so sincere, so caring that she could feel bits of her ice wall being chipped away. 

“Okay,” the word comes out a little stammery, but then she smirks. “ _J’onn_.”

He smiles in return.

__

After they finish up their little talk, going over all the rules and regulations of her stay at Horizon, J’onn leads her across the grounds to the cabin she will be staying in for the next 10 months. Or her servants quarters, as she likes to call them.

“Here we are,” J’onn says after he opens up the door. “The Cliffhangers cabin. The boys’ cabin is right next door.”

It’s definitely not what Lena is used to, that’s for sure. The entire cabin is about the size of her bedroom back home. There are six beds in total, three on one side and three on the other. The sheets are a hideous color, a bright tealish green. It’s an open space, no doors and no privacy. Except for a single door that she sincerely hopes is the bathroom. 

“Hi, girls,” J’onn greets and it’s only then that her brain realizes four of those ugly teal-green beds are occupied. “This is Lena. She will be joining your group.”

All of the girls look up and smile at her, except for one. A dirty-blonde haired girl on the very last bed in the row of three on the right side. She’s laying on her stomach flipping through the pages of some magazine and seems to be completely oblivious to Lena’s presence.

“This is Kelly,” J’onn’s voice draws her attention away from the brooding blonde and towards a girl with brown skin, sitting with her back against the headboard and knees drawn up to her chest as she writes in a journal. She smiles and gives her a short wave. Lena thinks she seems friendly but her thoughts are still stuck on the blonde in the back.

_I wonder what her name is_ , Lena muses.

“Hi! I’m Nia!” Another girl, very much on the younger side, jumps up from her bed with a greeting that nearly makes Lena fall backwards. She gives her a tightlipped smile, the young girl a little too enthusiastic for her at the moment.

“Okay, pipe down goldilocks,” A girl with short, red-ish brown hair mutters from the bed next to the blonde that has spiked Lena’s interest. Nia sinks down onto her bed, a pout forming on her face.

“Alex, be nice,” J’onn scolds.

“I _am_ nice! She’s just annoying.”

That earns a scoff from the unnamed blonde.

“What?” Alex glares at her.

“Nothing,” the girl shakes her head, flipping another page in her magazine. Lena watches as Alex rolls her eyes and her eyebrow arches in interest. She wonders how old the blonde is, couldn’t be more than 18 at the oldest, she assumes.

“Kara, is there anything you’d like to say to Lena?” J’onn prods.

_Kara. So that’s her name.. Pretty._

“And what exactly would I say?” Kara retorts. “Hi, Lena. Welcome to the camp for profoundly dysfunctional adolescents. I hope you enjoy hiking, shitty food, and no freedom.” Her tone drips with sarcasm and malice but Lena can’t help but bite back a grin, their feelings about this place seeming to align pretty well.

“Yeah, tons of fun around here,” Kara mutters, turning her attention back to her magazine. 

“Anyway, dinner will be in about an hour, ladies,” J’onn informs and then a sly grin forms on his face. “And Kara? You get to show Lena around the grounds.” He adds before walking out and leaving the girls to their own devices.

Kara tosses her magazine to the side and groans. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” She heaves herself up off her bed and makes her way to the door. She swiftly looks Lena up and down, taking in her obviously brand new, and unworn, Abercrombie cargo pants and white H&M button down draped over her blue tank top and snickers. 

“C’mon, princess. Let’s go.”

Lena turns to face Alex, mouth agape and dumbfounded, but she simply shrugs.

“Just ignore her,” Kelly speaks up. “She’s like that with everybody.”


End file.
